“We Taught the World New Ways to Dream”: the Role of Optimism During First Exposure to a Hedonic Or Utilitarian Radical Innovation

Abstract Recent research has advocated the importance of emotions in new product development. I investigate whether initial exposure to either a hedonic or utilitarian description of an innovation is responsible for greater optimism and greater willingness to try the innovation. Using the hydrogen fuel cell car as the focal product, I find a significant interaction between the type of description and the presence of a visual image of the innovation with regard to willingness to try. While optimism does not mediate the effect of this interaction, it is a significant and unique predictor of willingness to try.



Citation:

Arjun Chaudhuri (2009) ,"“We Taught the World New Ways to Dream”: the Role of Optimism During First Exposure to a Hedonic Or Utilitarian Radical Innovation", in AP - Asia-Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 8, eds. Sridhar Samu, Rajiv Vaidyanathan, and Dipankar Chakravarti, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 337-338.

Authors

Arjun Chaudhuri, Fairfield University, USA



Volume

AP - Asia-Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 8 | 2009



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